'I'm A Celebrity' namedropping continues - now Vernon Kay has a Tom Hanks story

Katie Archer
·Contributor
·3-min read
Vernon Kay namedropped Tom Hanks in I'm A Celebrity (ITV)
Vernon Kay namedropped Tom Hanks in I'm A Celebrity (ITV)

If you thought Shane Richie was the only I’m A Celebrity contestant with Hollywood A-lister contacts, then Vernon Kay wants to make sure you know otherwise.

Last night’s instalment from the Welsh camp featured former EastEnders actor Richie regaling his campmates with a story about the time he went go-karting with Tom Cruise, but now Kay has weighed in with a tale about film’s other famous Tom - Hanks.

Read more: Russell Watson turned down I’m A Celebrity five times

Richie revealed that he and Cruise would stay up go-karting until 5am and added: “We’d go and have drinks, we’d talk about stuff but mostly about go-karting.”

During the conversation, TV presenter Kay was quick to jump in with a story about spotting Brad Pitt in M&S, but by tonight’s episode he had managed to remember another brush with stardom.

Talking about interviewing Hanks for his 2004 film The Polar Express as his own career at T4 was just taking off, Kay said: “He was amazing. He was just the nicest fella.

“At the end I said I know this is really unprofessional, is there any chance you can sign this DVD cover of Forrest Gump for me. And he's like no problem. So he signed it to Vernon, good luck with the new gig, Tom Hanks."

Read more: Vernon Kay grabs eating trial by the balls

But that wasn’t where Kay’s story ended, as he explained that two years later they met again on the Eurostar during a press junket for The Da Vinci Code.

He said: "I'll never forget it, I I can see it now, Tom Hanks saw me and he just turned to Ron Howard (the film's director) and he went 'oh this is Vern, he's alright he is'.

“I'm like, ‘he remembered my name’. And he just turned around and said, ‘Vern, oh he's a good guy’!"

Although neither Kay or Richie knows it, Richie may just have one-upped the Hollywood star anecdotes again, though.

His son Shane Nolan Jr revealed another aspect to the go-karting story on Twitter - that his dad was also beaten by Nicole Kidman, who was married to Cruise at the time.

Nolan Jr tweeted the race scorecard with: “So just putting this out there in case anyone thought my dad was talking sheep’s balls. Can’t believe he got beat off Nicole Kidman though. Haha.”

I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! continues tomorrow night at 9pm on ITV.